Friday, March 10, 2017

Mosul Campaign Day 144, Mar 9, 2017

March 9 was a day of advances and consolidation for the
Iraqi forces (ISF). Inside Mosul the Golden Division freed
Muallemin and Silo in the southwest. The police were clearing
the areas they had taken in the southeast along the Tigris River, and fighting
just outside the Mosul Museum. General Talib Shaghati of the Golden Division
hoped that all of western Mosul could be taken within a month. To the west the
9th Division and the Al-Abbas Division of the Hashd took the
Badush power station, and two towns in
the area as well. These represent the three main axes in the Mosul campaign,
even though the last has not reached the city itself yet. The original
operational plan launched in October collapsed because the Iraqi command could
not coordinate its forces on multiple fronts, and had to consolidate them all
down to just one. In the four months since the ISF has been able to successfully
develop their strategies and implementation.

The pro-Iranian Hashd continued its campaign against the
United States. Yesterday Washington said that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi was not in Mosul. March 9 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq spokesman Jawad Talabawi
claimed
that was because the Americans had ferreted him out of the city and took him to
the west. This is part of the routine propaganda by Tehran’s allies in Iraq
against the U.S. presence in the country.

People continued to flow out of west Mosul. In a 24 hour
period over 5,000
left the city. Overall, the number of displaced (IDPs) registered
with the government and aid groups climbed from 161,730 on February 23 to 215,142
by March 9. In the last week, 23,316 signed up as IDPs. At the same time,
people are still returning with some 68,532 having done so, but those leaving
have now surpassed them. The figures have increased so quickly that the United
Nations is worried
that the IDP camps will not be able to accommodate all of them. The U.N. just
opened one new facility and is building two more, but is afraid that will not
be enough given the current pace of displacement.

Number of Registered
Displaced in Ninewa Since Start Of Mosul Campaign

Feb 23 161,730

Mar 2 191,826

Mar 5 206,520

Mar 7 211,572

Mar 9 215,142

Several humanitarian groups published a survey
of life in east Mosul. It questioned people in 19 neighborhoods. It found that food
was the main priority for residents followed by electricity, both of which were
in short supply. Other concerns were sewage, which was not available in
one-third of the neighborhoods in the study, and drinkable water. The U.N. and
aid groups were providing bottled water to just 2 of the areas in the survey.
There was also no solid waste management either. Much has been recently made
about schools re-opening. Almost all of those are primary level and are working
two shifts to accommodate all the students. They are short of stationary and
books however. On the other hand, over half of the 19 neighborhoods in the poll
had no secondary schools. Those that were open were also not doing the double
shifts like the other schools. Another thing often mentioned in stories about
east Mosul is that markets and shops are back in business. What’s not mentioned
is that many of those places lack basic supplies. More importantly there are
few jobs and little money in the east to buy anything. 4/5 of the respondents
said they had no cash savings. More than half the people said they were not
working. Those that were employed were doing day labor. People were forced into
selling their possession to try to make some cash. That meant many markets were
selling on credit. Many of these issues are not going to be solved any time
soon. Fallujah for example was liberated in June and is still relying upon
generators and bottled water and there is no real economy. That’s because the
government doesn’t have the funds for any real rebuilding due to low oil
prices.

IRAQ HISTORY TIMELINE

TWITTER

About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. I have written for the Jamestown Foundation, Tom Ricks’ Best Defense at Foreign Policy and the Daily Beast, and was responsible for a chapter in the book Volatile Landscape: Iraq And Its Insurgent Movements. My work has been published in Iraq via NRT, AK News, Al-Mada, Sotaliraq, All Iraq News, and Ur News all in Iraq. I was interviewed on BBC Radio 5, Radio Sputnik, CCTV and TRT World News TV, and have appeared in CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, The National, Columbia Journalism Review, Mother Jones, PBS’ Frontline, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Institute for the Study of War, Radio Free Iraq, Rudaw, and others. I have also been cited in Iraq From war To A New Authoritarianism by Toby Dodge, Imagining the Nation Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq by Harith al-Qarawee, ISIS Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassahn, The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cocburn, and others. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com